A back-to-lay trade backs a horse and aims to lay it at a shorter price. The calculator shows the lay price a given number of ticks away on the real Betfair ladder, the lay stake needed and the profit, plus a table of other targets.
Worked example
Back £50 at 3.0, target 3 ticks. On the 2.0–3.0 band each tick is 0.02, so the target is 2.94. Lay stake = 50 × 3.0 ÷ 2.94 = £51.02, green +£1.02 (+£0.97 after 5% commission).
Why ticks matter more than prices
A tick is a different size in each price band: 0.01 below 2.0, 0.02 up to 3.0, 0.05 to 4.0, 0.1 to 6.0 and so on. Three ticks at 1.50 is a 2% move; three ticks at 12.0 is 12.5%. Traders think in ticks because that is how prices actually move on the ladder.
Questions
What if the price drifts instead?
Then the trade loses. Use the green-up calculator with the drifted price to see the cost of closing out.
What is a realistic tick target?
It depends on the market's liquidity and volatility. Look at how far prices typically move in the last 15 minutes on our race pages before deciding.